THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: FREAK OUT!

Frank Zappa is one of the artists which I have never exploited very much without a specific reason. Only I have never got into his music but I've listened to some songs occasionally from the radio and I can't say that I don't like him. Years ago I bought Joe's Garage that didn't impress me very much, but now I have decided to start exploring him.

A friend gave me a copy of this debut album (on tape!!) and after some listens I'm now ready for a review. This is a warning for the readers: I'm not expert in Zappa's music so please forgive me in advance.

I suspect that this album have had a big impact when it was released. This kind of eclectism, like the kazoo on "Who Are The Brain Police" in 1966 would have sounded crazy. And it's placed between two songs that are parodies of the mainstream genres of the time like "Go Crying On Somebody Else's Shoulder".

What is impressive is the mix of crazy lyrics (for that time) and unusual sounds like the kazoo inside songs with a pop structure played in a very skillful way by the band.

I think the highlights are near the end of the double album. I like "Trouble Every Day", probably because it 's early psychedelia, the artsy "It Can't Happen Here" which could have inspired an artist like Ron Geesin and contains also a lot of jazz. The closing 12 minutes are pure psychedelia that's one of my favorite genres.

Unfortunately from a pure musical point of view excluding the last three tracks it's not very interesting. It's funny and sarcastic and some things have not changed very much in the last 45 years, but this album has few to say to me. It's good, but if it wasn't for the few later things that I've had the opportunity to listen to, I don't think I would have been conquered by Zappa.

The Mothers of Invention were probably ready to invent, but the patent is not on this album. However it is good enough to make me look for other Zappa things.